Many modern electronic devices include a diversity of data processing features and quite a large amount of memory for storing a user's files. It is also more and more common to store confidential information and documents in equipment used as mobile stations. It is important to develop solutions for hindering the misuse of information stored in mobile stations when, for instance, the mobile station is stolen or lost.
Most mobile communication systems apply replaceable smart cards, which comprise a subscriber's identification application and, e.g. in the GSM system, are often called SIM (subscriber identity module) cards. Solutions have been developed for preventing the use of stolen SIM cards; in U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,783, for instance, a command for making the SIM card inoperative may be sent on the basis of the SIM card identity. However, it is also needed for removal of information that is kept in the memory of mobile equipment. U.S. 2005/0228938 discloses a solution, in which a device server may send an erasure command via a mobile communication network to an electronic device, in response to which at least a part of the mobile station's memory is overwritten. A problem with the above arrangement is that it requires a separate device server and that the stolen mobile station is not necessarily connected to the mobile communication network at the moment the erasure command was sent, wherefore the command will not reach its target.